Meta-cognitive processor

A close-up of the MCP in the hands of Daniel Graystone (Caprica pilot).

The Meta-cognitive Processor (MCP) was an advanced central processing unit developed by Tomas Vergis of the Vergis Corporation on Tauron, intended to bring higher brain function to cybernetic life forms.

Some 58 years prior to the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, the MCP was created by the Vergis Corporation at its labs in Tauron City in a bid to win the Cyber Combat Unit contract from the Caprican Government. The chip was stolen by members of the Ha'la'tha for Joseph Adama, who in turn delivered the chip to Vergis competitor Daniel Graystone of Graystone Industries. Having lost his daughter Zoe in the recent MLMT bombing in Caprica City, Graystone used the stolen chip in a bizarre experiment to bring his daughter back to life. Transferring a holographic avatar of Zoe onto the chip, Graystone then loaded the MCP into the chassis of one of his own company's robots, a U-87 "Cylon" (CAP: "Pilot").

Though Graystone believed the experiment was a failure, the chip enabled the U-87 prototype to test at sentient levels, performing well in battle simulations. Despite this success, however, only the original chip and the original U-87 chassis demonstrated this level of aptitude, an inexplicable bonding of the two nominally isometric components. Unbeknown to the scientists as Graystone Industries and Graystone himself, the bond was due to the presence of the Zoe Graystone avatar within the MCP and U-87 body (CAP: "Pilot", "Rebirth").

A computer diagram of the MCP and its specs.

Unaware of Zoe's presence as the U-87, Graystone continued to work on the unit, striving to solve the problem and deliver 100,000 functional robots to the Caprican Government within a short deadline. Working with Cyrus Xander and his assistant Philomon, Graystone ultimately concluded that the chip contained anomalies that, while giving the U-87 a psychological presence, needed to burned off the MCP "like a cancer." With the MCP wiped clean of any existing anomalies, the Graystone scientists could then, finally create clean copies. Fearing the deletion of her avatar and thus potential death herself, Zoe stole a company van and escaped Graystone Industries within the robot body (CAP: "End of Line").

Pursued by Caprican authorities, Zoe drove her van into a barricade, causing an explosion that destroyed the U-87 body. Collecting the remains of the U-87, Graystone Industries wiped the chip and duplicated it, producing a line of functional robots that, while not showing sentient-level intelligence, proved useful war machines (CAP: "End of Line", "Unvanquished").

Notes

• The acronym "MCP" is a blunt nod to the cult film Tron. "MCP" is an acronym for the Master Control Program, a rogue artificial intelligence (akin to Zoe-A, to an extent) who strived for world domination and was known for ending discussions with the phrase "End of line."